


Do I Love You?

by polikszena



Series: Trips to Old Hollywood [5]
Category: Du Barry was a Lady (1943)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:13:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25580398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polikszena/pseuds/polikszena
Summary: We all know what happened to Louis once he got knocked out, but what did May Daly do when she saw her future husband fall on the floor? What happened to her while Louie was back in the 18th Century?
Relationships: May Daly/Alec Howe
Series: Trips to Old Hollywood [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772395
Kudos: 1





	Do I Love You?

Watching half of the nightclub surrounding the unconscious Louie, May Daly asked herself how she felt seeing her fiancé on the floor. Surprisingly, the only thing she found in her heart was a small wave of relief that the people around him did not leave any space for her.

Then came the astonishment. The man she was about to marry, collapsed and was lying on the floor now, unconscious, without anyone knowing what happened, and all she felt was relief? While poor Ginny was kneeling next to him at the edge of freaking out, with his head in her lap? Ginny, who had been rejected by Louie about a thousand times, was there, gently stroking his hair. _I should be there, I should be doing this_ , she thought to herself, _I am his fiancée, after all._ But she couldn’t move.

When she was a little girl, May decided that she would never marry for love as she didn’t want to make the same mistakes her parents had made; however, no matter how she had been preparing herself for a marriage without feelings, she wasn’t expecting this. To be watching her husband-to-be knocked out on the floor and being totally fine with it. Even the members of the orchestra, who had absolutely nothing to do with Louie were peeking out behind their music stands to see what was going on, while she, May Daly, the future bride just stood there, surprised by her lack of feelings.

A few minutes later, she was standing at the club’s back door with a cigarette between her fingers, trying to get her thoughts and feelings straight. The whole concept of marrying for money seemed so easy: find a rich guy, marry him and wear furs and pearls for the rest of your life, simple as that. It was still simple when she turned down the young, talented, handsome, but penniless Alec – hurtful, but still simple, and now, she was at the point of marrying a rich guy. A rich guy who didn’t mind her saying yes only because of his fortune. Yet it couldn’t be more complicated.

As she stood at the back door, finishing her cigarette, May Daly realized that no matter how much she wanted to be rich, she wanted to love and be loved as well. She wanted to feel worry and fear when her fiancé would fall on the floor instead of just standing there like an empty cup at the bar. Even if it meant to say goodbye to her strong beliefs about marriage, May Daly didn’t want to be an empty cup. Not anymore.

She put out her cigarette and was about to go back inside and find Alec, when the door opened, and he stepped out of the building. Seeing her there, a small, bitter smile touched his lips.

“I guess I should tell the others that I’ve found the future bride at the back door,” he remarked.

“So they noticed that I’m not there,” she stated.

“They want to wake him up with the true love’s kiss, so they’re searching for you right now,” he told her.

“The true love’s kiss, really?” May raised a brow.

“Maybe you should go and try it,” he said, and she could hear the bitterness in his voice. “After all, he’s everything you wanted, isn’t he?”

She opened her mouth to tell Alec that she had changed her mind about this whole thing, but before she could have said anything, he went on:

“A rich guy who you have no feelings for, but it doesn’t matter until he buys you enough furs, and who knows, one day you might grow fond of him. I mean, what’s not to love in the good old Louie? He’s…”

However, Alec couldn’t tell her about Louie’s qualities, because all of a sudden, May closed his lips with hers. She didn’t have the patience to let him finish and couldn’t think of anything better to make him stop talking. It worked – he was speechless once she pulled away. Speechless and confused – why did she kiss him after she had chosen Louie?

“Are you going to try this on Louie, too?” he asked and suddenly his heart felt like a deflating balloon.

May smiled and shook her head.

“I’m not going to try this on anyone else,” she told him, making Alec even more confused.

“What happened?” he asked with a smile forming in the corner of his mouth.

“I changed my mind.”

“What about your parents’ mistake?”

“It was a mistake for them, but it doesn’t have to be a mistake for me.”

The smile on Alec’s face grew into a grin hearing her words.

“So, do you love me?” he asked.

“Does July need a sky of blue?” she sighed, quoting his newest song, making his grin go wider and his heart swell.

“This song is much better than I’ve thought,” he said, then he gently pulled her closer and kissed her.

And probably for the first time without feeling guilty, angry, or ashamed, May Daly kissed him back.


End file.
